Former West Virginia and Miami Dolphins quarterback Pat White is attending the Senior Bowl in hopes of landing another NFL shot. (Joel A. Erickson/AL.com)

MOBILE, Alabama -- Pat White sat in the Ladd-Peebles Stadium stands on Wednesday, staring out at a group of players trying to capture the same magic he had in 2009.

White, the Daphne native who starred at West Virginia for four years, rolled up 126 yards and tossed a 39-yard touchdown pass in the 2009 Senior Bowl to earn MVP honors, a performance that helped kick-start his rise up the draft boards and into the second round.

Now, White's back at the Senior Bowl, trying to resurrect a career that barely got started by talking to coaches and NFL scouts about a possible return.

"I'm out at the Senior Bowl trying to show coaches my interest, trying to show my face and let it be known that I want an opportunity to get back into the NFL," White said.

White, a dual-threat quarterback who wowed the Miami Dolphins as a possible Wildcat quarterback, was taken with the 44th pick in the draft and given a chance to earn playing time with the team that first used the Wildcat with success.

White never found a fit in Miami. After a rookie season when he played in 13 games but rushed for just 21 yards and failed to complete all five pass attempts, White was released shortly before the 2010 season.

"It definitely wasn't the best, or the easiest time in my life. More than anything, I learned," White said. "I learned the business side of things, and I learned that athletics, especially the game of football, is a lifestyle."

White believes he didn't take the right approach to the game. In the NFL, the players who don't eat, live and breathe the sport get left behind.

"I knew it, I knew how to do it, I just stopped believing in myself," White said. "I stopped focusing on what it took for me to be a successful NFL player."

White, a fourth-round pick by the Anaheim Angels in the 2004 draft before deciding to play football at West Virginia, gave baseball a short try in the Royals' organization before returning to the football field for a short amount of time in 2011 with the UFL's Virginia Destroyers. After that, White made a run at an acting career before deciding to try to make a comeback.

Always small for a quarterback at 6-feet, 190 pounds, White is still small, and his lack of NFL resume will make it tough to return to the NFL after three seasons away from the league.

As a Dolphin, some observers suggested White should move to receiver, but he wants to make his comeback at the position he's always played.

"I'm a quarterback until they tell me I'm not," White said. "I'm just hoping to get an opportunity."